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African Tales #8

on May 10, 2016

How elephants came to be

We have all had some experience with the magnificent animals we call elephants, be it a heart wrenching Disney story about an orphan with big ears, a fascinating documentary on NatGeo Wild or even a personal experience while out on safari. We have all experienced at least some facet of these ancient beasts’ lives but do we really know their origins? The following tale told by the Masai people of Southern Kenya will give us the truth behind how these amazing animals came to be.

Many, many moons ago, when the land was still large and green there was a very poor man who was struggling greatly to keep his family and home cared for. He was just not making enough money to support his wife and children. But this was soon to change as one day as the sun was rising there came a trader over the horizon, drawn by the smoke from the poor man’s pitiful fire.

01Sheldon Hooper Green Sunrise

With the trader, came many tales of what lay over the great mountains in the east, one of which caught the interest of the poor man. It was mention of an immensely rich man who started out as he did, poor and distraught. From the trader, the poor man received directions in exchange of a very thin and watery gruel, all the poor man could offer, and he set off on his journey to find the rich man’s secrets.

02Sheldon Hooper BFG

The poor man travelled for many, many days, his feet getting progressively sorer. But his goal kept him going, the kindness of the people along the way also sustained him and he was able to receive food and water from all he met. As he crested the rise on the eve of one of his longest days, he saw out in the distance a grand farm brimming with cattle, sheep goats and corn. He rejoiced as this was surely the land of the poor man turned rich.

03Sheldon Hooper BFG 2

When, at last, he stumbled into the poor man turned rich's boma, the poor man was exhausted and very hungry. The poor man turned rich saw his rags and took pity on him, providing him with fresh cloths, food and pleasantries. Once the poor man had recovered enough, their talk turned to other things chiefly the poor man turned riches turn of favor. The poor man turned rich leaned in close to the poor man and told him that it was simple, he handed the poor man a clay jar of ointment. “Take this jar poor man and become as I am. I too was in your situation and so will help you from it. Rub this ointment on your wife’s two canine teeth every night and once you think they are ready take them to market and sell them. With patience and perseverance you will soon become me.” Said the poor man turned rich to the poor man. With that the poor man bid his host farewell and began his long journey home, this time his heart was light and so were his feet and so the journey did not take as long as the previous one.

The poor man arrived home and immediately told his wife what he must do to become rich and she agreed. Every day for many days the man smeared the ointment on his wife’s two canine teeth and everyday come sunrise her teeth had grown longer. The poor man decided one day when they were almost as long as his arm that he would take them to market and sell them. He returned with more money than his family had ever seen. The poor man thought that this was a once off thing but to his amazement his wife’s teeth had started growing back the next morning. This made him greedy and so instead of just smearing it on his wife’s two canine teeth he did so to his children teeth as well.

06Sheldon Hooper Huge Tusks 2

The man pulled all his family’s teeth and returned to market to make a small fortune but still he wanted more. He returned home and in his blind greed had not noticed that his family members had begun to turn a greyish color, nor had he noticed that their skin had become more wrinkled. He continued to repeat the process until he too had amassed hordes of livestock and acres of land. But he had not noticed how his family members had begun to grow immensely and so too their appetite. The acres of crops he grew now went to his wife and children to sustain their immense hunger, the livestock too.

07Sheldon Hooper Huge Tusks

Eventually the poor mans’ family had grown 10 times their size and their appetite 20 times what it was. The poor man could not keep them all in his house and drove them out into the forest where they multiplied and spread over the land. The poor man was left with nothing but grief and a little of the ointment and so began smearing it on his own teeth until one day he too had grown to epic proportions and went out in search of his wife and children but in his grief and anger could not find them.

The poor man turned elephant looked over his shoulder at his old home and with a great cry that shook the land set off on an even longer journey in search of his family who he driven away. And after that last gaze back he began walking out into the setting sun away from the rich man in the east who had helped him get to this point.

10Sheldon Hooper Setting Sun Over The Bush

This explains both why elephants are as cleaver as people and why when a male elephant is in search for a mate he is so aggressive. They all share the grief of the poor man turned elephant in the loss of his family to his greed.

  • Blog by Sheldon Hooper (Bush Lodge Ranger)
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